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CHAPEL HILL — There was no tension for once and plenty of joy for North Carolina in one of its most impressive games of the season as the Tar Heels showed that they might be finding a bit of a groove. RJ Davis definitely found his, hitting a banked-in, deep 3-pointer to beat the shot clock late in UNC’s 82–67 victory Tuesday night at the Smith Center.
It isn’t clear if guard Seth Trimble will return to action for North Carolina on Tuesday against SMU, but he’s making progress and Assistant Coach Sean May suggested he’ll play against the Mustangs.
Coach Hubert Davis said during the ACC Zoom press conference on Monday that Trimble, who has missed the last three games with a upper-body injury, practiced on Sunday.
North Carolina’s thrilling 74–73 victory at Notre Dame on Saturday for the Tar Heels’ first Quad 2 victory moved the Tar Heels up to 44 in the NET rankings from a season-low 47 after the Louisville loss. But there was unhelpful news elsewhere for UNC.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — With Captain Jack directing the train, he needed some big-time passengers, and Elliot Cadeau was the man of the hour. Cadeau’s four-point play with 4.8 seconds left gave North Carolina a badly needed 74–73 victory Saturday over Notre Dame at the Purcell Pavilion.
LOUISVILLE — With defenses hyper-focused on making RJ Davis work for every basket and the fifth-year guard having difficulty finding the shooting rhythm, North Carolina will have to lean on freshmen Ian Jackson and Drake Powell.
After falling to 2–6 in Quad 1 games with Wednesday’s 83–70 loss at Louisville, Carolina fell five spots to a season-low 47th in the NET rankings and began to slip near bubble status.
LOUISVILLE — It’s a new year, but North Carolina issues that made the season a rough ride in 2024 created a familiar bumpy finish to the first game of 2025. Much like the loss to Florida in Charlotte, a disjointed half-court offense, rebounding woes and poor decisions led UNC to let a game get away late.
Louisville presents a potentially dangerous combination considering the vulnerabilities of North Carolina’s defense this season.
CHAPEL HILL — Carolina continues to perfect high-level second-half play. lliot Cadeau jump-started the latest example against an overmatched Campbell team on a night when RJ Davis made school history.
Cameron Johnson — the subject of trade rumors — and Coby White are putting up the best numbers heading into the Christmas break of the six former UNC players on NBA rosters, while Cole Anthony had a monster game last weekend. Armando Bacot, Pete Nance and Nassir Little stand out among the seven former Tar Heels in the G League.
Destiny Adams, Dawson Garcia and Caleb Love are having the best seasons of the 19 former Carolina players playing at other schools heading into the holiday break, with Dontrez Styles a consistent factor for N.C. State.
CHARLOTTE — North Carolina’s spotty early-season NCAA men’s tournament resume is starting to look eerily like two seasons ago when it wasn’t good enough to get the Tar Heels into the field.
CHARLOTTE — His face was etched with frustration. Several long pauses, as North Carolina coach Hubert Davis tried to explain his team’s latest failure to finish, spoke volumes.
North Carolina’s men’s basketball team will get two huge neutral-site tests this week with a golden chance to enhance the Tar Heels’ early NCAA tournament resume. The Tar Heels’ NET ranking moved up five spots to 36th after their 93–67 home victory Saturday over La Salle.
CHAPEL HILL — A North Carolina team that headed into the exams stressed out with shaky confidence got a much-needed boost from a feel-good victory. UNC combined good defense, better inside play, strong efforts off the bench and Belmont transfer Cade Tyson’s best game of the season in an easy 93–67 victory Saturday over La Salle in the Smith Center.
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